Hillary’s Benghazi Hearings Inspired New CBS Series Madam Secretary

This coming fall, CBS is premiering a new series called Madam Secretary, in which Téa Leoni plays a character that was, at least partly, inspired by Hillary Clinton. During a presentation at today’s Television Critics Association summer conference, the show’s executive producer Lori McCreary explained how it was Clinton’s testimony at hearings over the 2012 attack in Benghazi that helped give her the idea for the show.

According to a report from Deadline’s Lisa De Moraes McCreary and Morgan Freeman, who is also a producer on the show, had a general meeting with CBS about producing a scripted series. Shortly afterwards she was “trying to come up with a great character… And then, guess what happened — the Benghazi hearings.” She decided to pitch a show about a female secretary of state and “and how it translates overseas when rights for women are not what they are here.”

While Clinton has not consulted on the show directly, show runner Barbara Hall said they have received some advice from the first female secretary of state Madeline Albright, who is “very eager to weigh in and help us; she’s very excited about the show.” Since the show is set five years in the future, Hall said that if there is a Benghazi-esque situation that arises on the show, the real Benghazi attack could be referenced as a precedent.